The list of major bank CEOs willing to state publicly that AI will eliminate specific existing roles is getting longer. NatWest CEO Paul Thwaite joined that group this week, telling a business summit hosted by The Times that artificial intelligence will transform banking workforce roles in concrete ways.
“In effect there will be roles that currently exist that absolutely to all intents and purposes [will be] delivered by AI,” Thwaite said. He did not specify whether AI adoption will decrease overall headcount, and noted that NatWest is actively hiring in software and AI-related positions. The comments were made June 19, 2026.
The broader industry context puts Thwaite’s comments in a pattern. Eighty-five percent of financial services firms with more than one billion dollars in annual revenue plan to increase AI budgets within 12 months, according to industry survey data. Sixty-five percent of financial institutions are already deploying or assessing AI. Most current AI applications in banking concentrate on back-office functions: revenue recognition, credit risk assessment, and sales forecasting. Thwaite joins JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, who has made similar public statements about AI’s impact on banking roles.
The original insight for HR and operations leaders in financial services: the public acknowledgment from CEOs at this level is not just a workforce planning signal. It is a signal about internal investment priority. Banks publicly committed to AI transformation of existing roles are the ones allocating material budget to both automation infrastructure and the workforce transition programs that make it manageable. The question for talent leaders is whether their institution is building toward that transition proactively or waiting for external pressure. Deutsche Bank’s specific AI ROI numbers from earlier this week set a benchmark that other institutions’ leadership teams will now face internally.
Source: PYMNTS
